I graduated from Penn State in 1977.
In 2020, I had a stroke. Before the stroke, I talked to everyone whenever I had a chance. Now I don’t know because communication breaks down my brain. I have aphasia that makes language challenging.
Penn State has been tremendous in my life. Many of my friends from college are still my friends today. No matter where I went, I talked to everyone because I liked to talk. Many times Penn State shows in my conversation, starting with “I went to Penn State too.”
So many people I connected with throughout my life. Aphasia feels like my life sucks.
With aphasia, I don’t talk so much now. My words are tricky. Sometimes I can only think of the first and the rest of the letters and forget the rest. I feel like a George Carlin joke.
Working on my reading and talking is my goal. Penn State alums must have groups with aphasia. The goal is to connect those with aphasia at Penn State to talk to others. Language is critical to part of the communication of all of us, and aphasia can get better.
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